Have you ever wondered about the challenges and triumphs of creating a brand-new school from scratch? This episode lets you in on this fascinating journey, with our guests, Mark Ruark and Suzanne Richardson, the first principal and counselor respectively, of Jefferson High School. From finding their roles to the intricacies of establishing a new academic institution, Mark and Suzanne share it all, adding a personal touch with amusing anecdotes and inspiring perseverance stories.
The episode takes you on a deep dive into the complexities of curriculum development, staff hiring, and establishing traditions. Listen as Mark and Suzanne reveal the trials of starting out with just 76 students in a place built for 400, the rigorous process of hiring staff who embodied their vision, and the importance of extracurricular activities. They also discuss the importance of focusing on learning quality over weighted grades and the establishment of academic recognition traditions such as the Magna Cum Laude system.
Finally, the episode brings into focus the pivotal role of leadership and collaboration in shaping the school's culture and future. Mark and Suzanne reflect on the lasting relationships they built, the influence of mentors, and the impact their leadership had on the school and its community. The episode wraps up with a look at the diverse community that has come together to make Jefferson High School a success. Whether you're an educator, a parent, or someone interested in the behind-the-scenes workings of a school, this episode promises insights and stories that will leave you inspired. Tune in for a captivating exploration of the making of Jefferson High School.
Have you ever wondered about the challenges and triumphs of creating a brand-new school from scratch? This episode lets you in on this fascinating journey, with our guests, Mark Ruark and Suzanne Richardson, the first principal and counselor respectively, of Jefferson High School. From finding their roles to the intricacies of establishing a new academic institution, Mark and Suzanne share it all, adding a personal touch with amusing anecdotes and inspiring perseverance stories.
The episode takes you on a deep dive into the complexities of curriculum development, staff hiring, and establishing traditions. Listen as Mark and Suzanne reveal the trials of starting out with just 76 students in a place built for 400, the rigorous process of hiring staff who embodied their vision, and the importance of extracurricular activities. They also discuss the importance of focusing on learning quality over weighted grades and the establishment of academic recognition traditions such as the Magna Cum Laude system.
Finally, the episode brings into focus the pivotal role of leadership and collaboration in shaping the school's culture and future. Mark and Suzanne reflect on the lasting relationships they built, the influence of mentors, and the impact their leadership had on the school and its community. The episode wraps up with a look at the diverse community that has come together to make Jefferson High School a success. Whether you're an educator, a parent, or someone interested in the behind-the-scenes workings of a school, this episode promises insights and stories that will leave you inspired. Tune in for a captivating exploration of the making of Jefferson High School.
Well, thank you for joining us. It's my honor today and in honor of the class of 2013, our first graduating class, as we prepare for their reunion this fall on October 6, I'm joined by Mark Ruart, the first principal at Jefferson High School and the first counselor, suzanne Richardson. First, thank you for joining us. I'm going to do little talking and kind of lead you all in discussion and we'll turn you guys loose. Mark, the first question I have for you and I actually you guys have had a little off. I've heard her version of how she was hired here and then yours and it was. I want to get to that, but I do want to hear from you, mark. How did you find out about this position? What interest you in this position? Because there was nothing here and that's an interesting endeavor.
Speaker 2:David, it's really funny and thank you all for having me and letting me be able to be a part of this. It's great to see you and Suzanne, who played such a huge role in the development of the high school as well. But I love talking about that time period. I love talking about Jefferson High School. I will always be a little bit of a blue jay, without question, and it was such a great experience. But how I found out about it? I was.
Speaker 2:I had worked at Cape Central High School for 23 years and I wanted to be a principal and I knew that I was going to have to get out of my comfort zone and look and go somewhere else. And obviously, honestly, there was an advertisement for a principal's position on MoReap and it was intriguing and the ad basically said they were looking for a principal to start a high school in the Jefferson R7 School District that I had never heard of, and so I said you know what, do the paperwork and send it in and see what happens. I wasn't very optimistic that I would be even considered for the position. I had applied for a couple of principal ships down here in Southeast Missouri and I got interviewed by the people at Jefferson R7, the board and the superintendent then Superintendent Tom Gensler, and then they, and then I also got interviewed by another school district and I got offered both positions.
Speaker 2:And how it came to be at Jefferson, jefferson had offered me a certain salary and I realized that it was not going to be enough for me to take that position and I called Dr Gensler and told him I said thank you for your time, I will not take that position. And so then I was in the process of calling the other high school to say I was going to take their position, but their superintendent was not available. And so in the meantime, between that superintendent calling me back for me to accept the job, dr Gensler called me back and offered a little bit of a different salary package, and so I took the job at that point in time. And then the other superintendent called me back and I told him that story and he found it kind of funny that he said he wished he'd been there. But anyway, that's how it came to be. I got the Jefferson job. I turned it down once, and because the other school didn't call me back quick enough, tom did, and the rest is history, as they say.
Speaker 1:That's a great story. I didn't know that and that's why we do these podcasts. So Suzanne comes in this morning and how did you two? How did it come to be that she maybe lets you know she was interested in the position?
Speaker 2:It's kind of interesting. I knew of Suzanne. She played basketball for DeSoto and I actually coached Cape Central and played against Suzanne, so and I knew her coach, ron Rhodes, very well, and so while I didn't know her, I knew her. That makes sense. And then I have, over the years, presented at the Missouri School Counselors Association Fall Conference, and I was presenting in November of 2008. And that was the year I just started my first year at Now. I just want you to imagine this you all are all lifelong educators.
Speaker 2:My first year as principal at Jefferson, I had no teachers, I had no parents, I had no students. Best year I ever had an education, totally kidding. No, there was a lot of parent involvement as we were starting that high school, without question. But anyway, I was at that conference and Suzanne was there and I think she actually came to my presentation but she was really just trying to suck up to me, I guess to get the job. But she told me after that she said I'm going to be your counselor.
Speaker 2:And I just laughed, I thought it was funny and I said well, we're going to start that process, I think after the first of the year when we started hiring. But I didn't know that the first position I wanted to fill well, it was actually the second position I felt the first position we filled was hiring Darla Clinton as the administrative assistant to me and that happened almost immediately when I took the job. But I knew the first academic position I wanted to fill was the counselor, because I wanted the counselor to be part of the hiring of the staff and creating the culture that became the Blue Jay Way.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's Mark. You and I both know the importance of having a great high school counselor, or a counseling department, depending on size of high school. I've been so blessed during my career. So Suzanne is here. Thank you for joining us. Sure, is that the correct version of events?
Speaker 3:Yeah, yes, absolutely. I went to your session at the state conference and I approached you afterwards and said I'm Suzanne Richardson and I'm going to be your school counselor. So as soon as I knew that this community was, going to build a high school. I wanted to be a part of that process.
Speaker 3:And it was so appealing to me to be a foundational person in what will be the pathway for all future graduates at Jefferson High School, and we did a lot of work to lay a strong road for those kids to travel, building academic planning guides, developing relationships for interventions and dual credit and career and technical education. So we had a lot of work to do together and I'm so glad that we were a team.
Speaker 1:And I do want to kind of maybe bring something up here that we discussed before we came and turn this on. I've been trying to think of and again I stress to you all, this is not the addition of a high school to a district that already has a high school. We're splitting, but a K-8 that goes. I don't know of many situations where a high school has been created and has had this success, and I think that goes back to you all and your foundational work, and I mean that with all sincerity. But the amount of success, academically first and foremost, and then quickly thereafter with our extracurricular activities. Early on, our band program was playing at the MMEA I think that's what it's called and I apologize if that's wrong, but you guys are so much credit for that. So when you guys had your meetings, I kind of look at it like I guess it's time to go to school, even though it's in the middle of August, early August, but anyway, how much time was spent on those guiding documents, how much was spent on the development of culture.
Speaker 2:On the guiding documents when we started looking at curriculum and of course I am old, so if I forget something, suzanne, please jump in there and correct me. Yes, sir, you know what I did as I looked at curriculums and how, what way we were going to go. I did not want to reinvent the wheel, so we looked at documents from highly successful academic high schools and I wouldn't say we begged or borrowed. I wouldn't say we begged, but we certainly borrowed and stole whatever we thought would fit the culture of the community. I jokingly said at the start of this podcast that had no parents or kids, but really that first year there was a lot of community outings, that we met with the parents and we wanted to know what was their vision and what was their view for what they wanted the high school to be like. And we got that input. We met with the incoming, the eighth graders, who would be the first class, the class of 2013. And we got student input as well. And then we looked at those curriculum documents and handbooks from other schools and we just based on what we felt the families wanted. We kind of tweaked it to make it our own. And then, as far as the culture goes.
Speaker 2:David, I was very much and Suzanne knows my management style and she wasn't necessarily comfortable with it at the beginning. But I wanted to hire type A people who could understand the vision that I had we had and then carry it out. I didn't want to be that principal that was going to micromanage and tell them. And Suzanne did such a tremendous job as a school counselor, saying here's the concept, you build the program, and she did a wonderful job and I think the counselors programed at Jefferson is second to none anywhere and it's based on the start that Suzanne, the foundation that she laid in that. But we really did that with our teaching staff as well.
Speaker 1:So that's kind of what I remember from that I'm going to segue to something I'm going to ask you back at the end. But I remember really working on the high school graduation and your overarching theme every meeting was this is about the kids. And when you have it about the kids and I can say and we'll talk about it more but our graduations have been phenomenal since then. And I remember afterwards we were staying on the stage, just you and I, and you said you know, David, there may be some that are better, but they'll never be a first, and we had looked like we had done it before and so I'm using that as an example of when we went.
Speaker 1:In those meetings there was always that overarching guiding theme and Suzanne, kind of segueing to you, I think at the time I think they were called personal plans of study. They have since evolved into what's called ICAP. Anyway, you're providing that path for a student to get to that what's now going into their eighth grade year, into their senior year. It's a five-year process. How important is that curriculum like? Just, not only is it important now, but how important was it then?
Speaker 3:so when we started, we visited with the eighth graders and talked to them about course selection and what classes they were interested in, because we Didn't start with a full high school of curriculum and teachers. We started with just enough to teach. I think we had 76 freshmen when they started and it it wasn't a Whole program and we had to begin with the end in mind. Okay, so we had some kids who took advanced math in eighth grade, so we needed to offer sections, those advanced classes in ninth grade for a small group of students and then again in tenth grade. So when you're layering in grade levels, you have to create unique class opportunities to meet, you know, students who might have individual learning plans. We had to have, you know, health plans for our students who had health concerns and we just had ninth graders. So developing that long-term plan took a lot of Work from our community to set to say this is what we're looking for for our students, also working with area school counselors and other school administrators from our area. What do they offer and what? What should we offer to meet the needs of our kids? You've got dual credit, dual enrollment, ap. We had unique situations where we might have one student taking an AP exam On that national AP testing day, offering the ACT to our students and our faculty and staff as we grew over those First few years, our faculty and staff did a great job of supporting kids, maybe taking extra college classes for themselves so they could teach upper-level classes, and also offering interventions to kids who might need extra help, making it to the finish line for graduation.
Speaker 3:So it just it was.
Speaker 3:It was like a dance, with everyone Trying to make sure when someone else needed to take the lead, we let them do that In developing the programs, the courses, the opportunities that we offered to kids.
Speaker 3:You know you have state championship teams now and we had to teach our community why our classes needed to be in CAA approved so those students could move on from high school To college level sports. So those were things that we had to educate our community and because this community, the Jefferson R7 community, had such high Expectations and academic standards and high test scores, it was easy to tell them these are the things that you need to do for your kids so they can go to the next step, whatever that next step is for them college or career, playing sports beyond high school this community supported every initiative that we had. So it was fun and I was so thankful for the parental support that we received from not just that first class but from the classes beyond them, because that next class Realized what you're offering them is going to be offered to our kids who are coming from eighth grade them next year.
Speaker 1:So and I Think, just as an coming in when the first class was juniors, it was apparent there had been a lot of work done and you could tell that things were on a really great path. But, suzanne, you had mentioned earlier when we got here about, and my next question is you know the hiring process of the high school staff? You had mentioned two things. Number one you just didn't hire a high school staff. You were in. The second part of that is, you were very much in intertwine into what was going on in the district and you had a lot of shared teachers. So I don't mark I'm, I don't know who wants to take this, but how did that process when you started looking at it, how did you begin to hire the staff? One more thing I want to add.
Speaker 1:Haley Brumley met with our PTO group in the spring in our Blue Jay Foundation. She was talking about that first year and was just really need to hear. You know there's four teachers on the bottom floor. The half the building wasn't used. It was. It was a whole different world and a whole other discussion, but it did kind of speak to me like my goodness, there were teachers that didn't exist, like classes that didn't even exist that first year. So how did that hiring process work?
Speaker 2:But they. Let me talk just a little bit about that first year and talking about not using the whole half the building. The gym wasn't even completed. So when we started school that year, our our first sport was basically volleyball and they played at Danby Because the gym was not completed and so we had to deal with that part of the process as we were trying to get things to do, and it was a it was a unique situation having 76 kids in a building that was built for 400 students and having a limited number of teachers.
Speaker 2:I don't think anybody really understood and I know I didn't until we were in the middle of it the challenge that that was going to be and putting that piece of the puzzle together. But again, as we started the hiring process, there were teachers within the district that were teaching at the junior high level, that were certified to teach At the secondary level, that wanted to be considered For those positions at the high school, and I think back on a Trish Baumgartner was one of the original teachers that we hired, that had taught social studies at Danby and she retired, yet I mean, she's still teaching.
Speaker 1:She just retired mark and she had some property through her family in South Carolina. She's actually taking a teaching position in South Carolina, oh, Well, good for her.
Speaker 2:I knew she had to be close to.
Speaker 1:She's such a good person. I mean, is they wonderful person?
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and so we had so a few of those teachers. We still interviewed them because I wanted to make sure and, suzanne, I both wanted to make sure that they could take the vision that we had for the school and and and and be successful as part of it. And of course, trish was one of the leaders that we brought over. Kristen Wilkie, I think, was another one that was at the junior high that came over and of course she really was responsible for getting our business department and our student council To be a successful organization and I know that's still a big Organization at Jefferson. And I think the other teacher we brought from the junior high was in language arts, which was Jerry and Wallace. I believe that was the Three that moved over from the junior high initially. Correct me if I'm wrong, but and then I know we hired Matt was one of our key positions and we were a. We brought in a, carl Schenegger, who Was, who's now the principal at Festus, but he was the father of our math department Really. And and he really again was another one of those teachers that I that had that vision and carry out what we wanted. And I know I'm all these names are Coming back.
Speaker 2:But then we also had to fit one of the things that the parents wanted to do, and this was the tricky. This was a tricky part to David is the biggest thing that we heard when we go out and talk to parents is they wanted a school. It was gonna be strong academically, but the extracurricular program was critical as well, and we had to hire coaches. And we had to hire coaches that would be, that would be good teachers, because, as you well know that we pay them the most to teach and the coaching is secondary, but for a lot of coaches, coaching is the primary and we had to find people who fit that and to be able to hire, when you have 76 students to try to fill a coaching staff.
Speaker 2:Or in music as well, we had to find a I mean obviously Our, our band guy. He did a tremendous job getting our music program going and but then we had to find somebody to do the vocal part of it. And so, again, david, I think what I was looking for were people who, again, had the initiative To be independent and successful Within a team, if that makes sense.
Speaker 3:Oh, it does, suzanne, anything to add to that I just think that you know when creating our bell schedule and what is offered each hour, Having those teachers who were tied to D&B for different times Created an interesting way of building the schedule and then the next year we were still sharing teachers but offering twice as much at the high school. So just building that Shell for the bell schedule and lunches and you know how do all those procedures work. We started with Just an idea. It wasn't. You weren't going into a place where you knew what time you ate Lunch and what. What first lunch looked like compared to second lunch. You were building it live and in real time and and it was. It was hard work but it was good work and it was fun. And I agree with Mark that we had an absolutely Fabulous team across the board and everyone had to do more than what was in their job description Because we didn't have upper-classmen to set the standard for our freshmen or our freshmen and sophomores.
Speaker 2:And David, here was the other thing that it strikes me like we had to hire.
Speaker 2:We had to hire a Spanish we're all for foreign language.
Speaker 2:We had to hire a Spanish teacher, but we didn't have six periods of Spanish to offer, and so that was the other catch was what we were gonna have these people do, and we certainly couldn't hire people.
Speaker 2:We weren't gonna be able to hire the type of staff we wanted to hire and say, hey, we got a bunch of part-time teaching positions. And so I do go back and very thankful for the leadership that Tom Gensler and the board of education showed and realizing, basically giving us the ability to go hire a full-time teacher that first year to, even though they probably weren't gonna be teaching a full-load, and and that was that was that was necessary for us to be able to hire the quality of staff that we hired. You know, I think, a you know Coach and Eagle who came in and did a tremendous job starting our volleyball program and we would have never been able to hire her away. And I said, hey, it's a part-time PE teaching position, come be our volleyball coach. And so that type of support from the community and the board and the superintendent Was necessary for us to be successful.
Speaker 1:Like I said, about time I got there when they were juniors, we had three classes and you can still see remnants of that in schedule or maybe a teacher wasn't teaching a full day, but it was kind of neat. Kind of look back the year prior and then the following year how all those slots kind of filled up. So I bet you that just to be on your side of it from ground zero all the way through, had to be knee, just kind of see those boxes just keep filling in.
Speaker 2:It really was. It was so surreal with that first class, with being in the again the big building and having the kids there and the teachers there. But man, just I think back on the team work. Everybody seemed to pitch in and Susanna alluded to that as well and work together and say what can we do to make it a better place? What do we need to do? And they did it and it worked. I mean it really is. I think back on it.
Speaker 2:I mean we had a lot of works and a lot of headaches and a lot of bumps in the road, but I don't think without the people we had and again a credit to Suzanne that Suzanne and I had our.
Speaker 2:We would get behind closed doors and she would say I think we need to do it this way, and I'd say I think we need to do it that way, and sometimes she would win and sometimes I would win. But that was the beauty of the team work, because when we left that her office or my office, we were together as one and how we were going to approach the rest of the, how we were going to approach things. And I mean Suzanne did so much more than just what a traditional counselor does she really initiated the student led conference concept. That was tremendously successful when we'd have 100%. The first year we did it we had 100% attendance by our parents and then Suzanne was leading cheers, getting the teat ringing about the school spirit, and so she got it and was so important in so many different areas of the school, not just as a school counselor.
Speaker 3:Well, and I think all the staff had to lead cheers and do things that were, just, like I said, outside of their job description because we didn't have seniors to show freshmen and sophomores. This is how it works in our school. This is. This is how you have school spirit, you know. You alluded to Kristen Wilkie being the the student council sponsor, and she did so much to prepare for that foundation for the kids, who needs student leadership skills, having a leadership class and offering them opportunities to influence the decisions we made, and, as a principal, you did an outstanding job of including students in the decisions that we made. That first class had so much input on what things looked like for them and for future. Blue Jays.
Speaker 2:Really is.
Speaker 2:I think that's one thing I'm glad you brought that up that first class of students did so much of creating the traditions that are still there.
Speaker 2:And then you know, like we didn't have homecoming the first year and Suzanne came up with the term first coming and it was a dance and we had the parade, and for what, for what kind of parade it was. It was a great day, it was a great night, it was all good. I mean, it was just so much fun and those kids, really I think they took a lot of pride in knowing they were the first class and they were getting to establish the traditions that would would go, I mean, just think, for everything from picking out the colors of the letter jacket and those type things. I mean the, the, the logo that's behind you all. I mean that was a discussion that students were involved in, the board was involved in, and not many schools get to come up with a protected logo like Jefferson Blue Jays have, and it was only because of the way the whole school started and how we went about creating those traditions.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was a special time. I do remember that first homecoming when we I say first homecoming it was when the kids were seniors and you know a lot, of, a lot of attention was paid, mark, and in you and I had a lot of those discussions about making sure the whole district was involved and that that model has not changed and we still bust the kids in from platinum telegraph and there's still a huge part of it and we've. When Jason came in as AD as part of the transition, he kind of took a little bit further and took groups of kids down to run little pep rallies at each building and that has not changed. And I think that's the one thing. I think that for me and then I know it has to be even deeper for you all is just the pride. Like it's wonderful to see all success we have now but to know that it's had to start somewhere, like that's. I think a lot of that lies in the traditions that you build. Of course, over time, your academics and everything begins to change because of the. You know, society changes and there's different needs. But to lay that mindset that we're going to take advantage of what we have in front of us. Those high standards had to start early and I really, really think it was a huge deal what you all did. So, like everything else you do in life Mr Rooark, mr Richardson there's just some growth. So we've worked doing this video podcast for the first time and so we're kind of picking up where we had to kind of cut off. So we'll try to pick up the momentum that we had. This has been an absolute pleasure, mark.
Speaker 1:I do want to start with probably I'm going to say one of the great decisions that was made early on was to do the magna cum assume and not do the valedictorian. And I know you probably took it on the chin, but it's amazing how many schools have reached out to us since then, and even within the last week I've gotten a text about how we've done it. And I'm going to get to your question, the question about the decision. But I will just tell you that, having been in the building for I was in the building for 12 years the amount of, I guess, the less stress and the kids were able to just to turn it loose and take the classes they wanted and weren't playing the numbers game of needing points there, and plus the other part of that that most people don't realize.
Speaker 1:We're non-weighted, so colleges don't care about your weight of grades. They want them stripped out anyway. So why are we doing the weight of grades? I guess I don't know, as I've gotten farther in education. Why was that ever a deal? But those two decisions, mark, if you would start that discussion of no val cell and maybe the weight of grades, I think back on that and that was kind of a plan that we had all along not to do a val cell.
Speaker 2:And really part of the motivation was, as an administrator in a large high school, I had watched the games that kids and parents played, the pressure that certain students put on them, and my philosophy has always been if you have great academic kids, why not recognize as many as you can? And so I've always been in favor of the cum laude recognition system because it recognizes all the great kids and not just one or two kids. And Jefferson was the perfect place to do that because, again, that class of 2013 was a strong academic class and to single out one or two would have been wrong, in my opinion. And yes, there was a lot of heat, a lot of long board meetings, a lot of discussion, because there had been, I mean, parents had always believed that we would have a valedictorian and a valedictorian and a salutatorian, but I was passionate about it. And, again, clint Johnson, the superintendent, when that was finally decided, supported Suzanne and I on that and that was the great thing.
Speaker 2:But, like I said, it was a good decision and I know a lot of high schools in the area have done that, and when I retired and then started working at the parochial school, that was the first major change I made. Here was going to that, and the people love it, the students love it, the parents love it. To me it's the way to go. And we talk about weighted grades. I've never supported weighted grades either. If you're truly focusing on learning, you should be challenged to take the higher level courses anyway, not because you're going to get a bump in your grade point average, but because you're going to learn more, and that has to be. That's the mentality that we need more of an education that the focus be on the learning and the quality of the learning.
Speaker 1:Only I'm going to correct you on mark is it was not a good decision. It was a great decision and for that reason that kids are going back to the academic career planning guide, everything that's associated with the ICAPs, where you want your child to be, I mean, yes, we all want our kids to be very good at the sports, but at some point your sporting career will end and what's left? What are you pushing forward for? And I can tell you as a result of that decision, how stress-free our kids are. But also, when you sit down with those student-led conferences and you're going through the planning, they are truly looking at the courses and not going. How will that affect my GPA if I can bump it up to a 4.32? And really you go to school to school. A weighted grade is completely different school to school, so there's no consistency, but the 4.0 is consistent. So thank you for that decision. Do you have anything to add to that?
Speaker 1:I just think that it was so important to honor as many of those graduates that was our first class ever and the graduates to come after them, so that system that we settled on that is an effective way to honor so many kids who are high achievers and again, I support everything that you said about recognizing them for their academic achievement and them taking the classes for the intrinsic value of learning and I would say as principal, being fortunate enough to follow you, mark, for all those years during the ceremony itself, when you're able to say would our top students please, those that have a 4.0, and there's several Every year, there was, and so and then a student who does want to go to the ATS and go a career path there can be recognized because they're really good at that field, can be recognized, just like somebody who might be going become a doctor at some point or want to be an attorney and have taken a different course load, but both were very good at what they did and they get that equal recognition.
Speaker 1:So thank you for that decision. We're going to continue with the thought on recognition, the graduation ceremony, but it's more than that, as Ms Richardson has pointed out. Ms Richardson, let's start with senior awards. But honestly, it still looks the same.
Speaker 3:Just developing an opportunity to recognize kids for their academic and personal and social achievements in high school. That was the first time that we presented that to our community and many of our families had kids who went to other high schools, that had older children that had gone to area high schools. So there was an expectation of how much scholarship money did they earn and how many students are going to a four-year college and how many students are going into the workforce, how many are going into the military, our kids who committed to the military. So that was a great event to celebrate that first class and it's great that it still looks similar.
Speaker 1:It's the same, it's very much the same and I think the way that was handled to kind of segue Mark into that discussion of and again I have the advantage of seeing everything happen, since and I'm going to go back to the discussion I had earlier when we started to set up the graduation ceremony that mindset that it was about the student. There's a lot of aspects to developing the ceremony and how kids were recognized, but, Mark, I want you to kind of take what you kept saying this is about the student. You make it about the student. I really think what's happened also is that your kids are really bested in that week. One thing that has changed is that the kids are now doing the student, the students run the baccalaureate and our attendance has gone up. We also tie that into senior night. Now we do it in one evening. But, Mark, start with the student speaker selection. That was a big decision early on and, again, not having that balance out that, those kind of anointed speakers what did you come up with? We still use.
Speaker 2:Well again, david, you hit the nail on the head when you said it was. The focus was that it would be the students' graduation, and I think that's Suzanne and I shared that philosophy and I know as we all talk, I mean we started meeting on a regular basis planning graduation, if I remember, even back into their junior year, when we really started laying out what the senior year was going to look like and how we were going to bring graduation together. And I was so thankful that, david, you were on board and Suzanne was on board and that we all wanted it to be the students' graduation and the students. What better part of graduation than to have a classmate be the speaker and talk about what their high school years have meant to them? That's much more relatable than bringing some old guy who may have done something 50 years ago and we want to recognize him and make him a graduate speaker. Nothing wrong with that part of it, but that's not always very relatable to kids and I wanted the kids to have input on who their class speaker was and I wanted it to be a fellow student and that was one of the things that there's.
Speaker 2:I'm not one of those people that have few non-negotiables, but that was a non-negotiable for me.
Speaker 2:I wanted there to be a student speaker, and I'm glad that that tradition has continued on.
Speaker 2:Again, I just think it's one of the best things about it, and I tell people and I know you all probably remember hearing me, my staff here gets tired of hearing me say it I've always said you can screw up a lot of things as a high school principal, but you cannot screw up graduation. And that was one of the things that I wanted to make sure that we didn't screw it up that first graduation. And I don't know in my educational career, when that graduation ceremony was over In 2013, that I had been more proud of a staff and how we brought all that together, because that was an amazing graduation ceremony. I mean, if you remember, the governor came down for our initial graduation, which was a neat thing too. But again, I wanted the focus to be on the kids, and that's where it should be, because they're the ones who are earning the diploma. I'm getting ready to start my 42nd year in education, so I've been to a lot of graduations, but it should always be about the kids.
Speaker 3:I think that you touched on something really important, roo Archisms, and the one that I want to bring up at this time is something that you said to me a very long time ago that our focus is always on building and sustaining caring relationships, and that, I think, was the philosophy in everything that you did. And, like you alluded to earlier, we would have very good discussions we never had arguments because it was about what was right, not who was right and healthy discussions, and then, eventually, it was the three of us having healthy discussions about what was right, not who was right, but everything that you did was about building and sustaining caring relationships, and that is your year of 42. You said I'm in year 26. That is still with me from day one of us working together, and I think that that foundation is what made everything successful that we did, because you were trying to gather information and make the best decision based on relationships relationships with kids, teachers, the community, the school board, parents, all of those key stakeholders and that was critical in everything that we did.
Speaker 1:Yeah, mark, and I would segue off that as well and say that I don't really remember. I don't really remember heated meetings between us. I think we were passionate at times, but I always felt like at the end, goal was what was best. And there were times we would step away, and not that we were even upset Like, ok, we're not getting anywhere right now, let's come back to it. I think, as school leaders.
Speaker 3:We were just reflective. We would have discussions and be reflective about it and come back to make decisions together. No one stood on an island and made a declaration that this is the way that it's going to be, and that's attributed to your leadership of wanting input from other opinions and other people in the school and not just us, but teachers, parents, students. So much of what we did took input from all of those groups and you were like a conductor, orchestrating all of that with us and listening and being reflective, and it was such a great experience for us as adults and I'm excited to hear from the kids 10 years later.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm looking forward to that. Mark, I can tell you as part of my transition, handing over to Mr Rugly, how many things that I made very clear because I had just printed off a whole binder and created all kind of probably overwhelming. But there were certain things, like the student speaker thing, for example, why we do this at graduation and he gets it. But I could just hear your voice in those meetings when it was just he and I. And he is an R7 eighth grade graduate and went to Herkey, but he understands this district did a great job running off the graduation this year. But I think that spirit still lives a lot, not just in the graduation ceremony, but even a decision I made a couple years later.
Speaker 1:We got rid of in-school suspension. Just that it's about kids, it's about doing what's best for them and that was a Annie Graff and I spent a lot of time on that and that was a hard decision and that first year there were a couple nights I woke up thinking what have I done? But when you look at the results of that later, it's been phenomenal. I think a lot of that stems from meetings that we've had. Mark, you and I have a lot of similar influences in our profession? I don't know. It's been a great process. Anything else on the graduation ceremony.
Speaker 2:No, and thank you all both for the kind words. You know, building and sustaining caring relationships was the idea that I learned from one of my administrative mentors, mike Cowan, who is a longtime principal at Cape Central, and it should be the cornerstone of every educator, no matter what their role is. It's about building and sustaining caring relationships. If you do that, everything else falls into place, even when you have those difficult moments. Because you have built that relationship that you can handle that with students and staff and whatever. And again like I said from my educational career, that graduation bringing that to fruition. I was very proud of the staff and very proud of the students on how that all came about. So thank you for the kind words, but it was not me, it was a total team effort.
Speaker 1:Kind of close this out. Listen, we just mentioned before. We started to say we could do this all day, but I don't know that people want to listen to us all day. The people, the people that we've said so many, and I will say this up front we're kind of doing a podcast here and kind of coming together off the cuff on some level. So I know that if we leave anybody out, we don't intentionally mean to, but there's two people, then you guys will take it from there. Well, three things. Number one having Mr Johnston, who just retired from here. I've replaced you I don't know if I can really replace your mark and then I'm replacing Clint. I'll just say it's fun, I've enjoyed it, but having him in, I think so. He was here when there were freshmen and sophomores in the building and in support and everything that he brought along with it. I'll start with him first. Then there's another group I want to get to.
Speaker 2:Yeah, let me just say this Clint's first year as superintendent was the freshman. We had freshmen and sophomores in the building and he had very strong ideas about the direction he thought the high school should go. And we had some of those courageous conversations in my office, sometimes in his office, about what direction we would go. And the beauty of his leadership was that I never felt like any time that we weren't on the same page, that he did not listen to me, and I think that's the mark of a great leader, who will listen and then allow a person who there's many times he told me he said well, I don't agree with you, but you're passionate about it, so go make it work. And then sometimes I did, sometimes it didn't, but he never came back and said I told you so, but he was always supportive. And then there were times when he was a superintendent and he would say this is what we're going to do and I accepted that as well.
Speaker 2:Clint took I really believe this as I look back on his successful career when he came into the R7 school district. There were some issues and primarily the financial impact of building the high school and starting that, and his work in the finance area really took the district in a whole new level. But he also did that too at the high school. He was proud of the high school and he wanted excellence and he further pushed that tradition. So Clint's impact even though he wasn't here in the very beginning, his impact on the success of the high school is clear and deserves credit for that as well.
Speaker 3:And I think that he did a great job of helping us as school counselors. The needs of kids in grades 9, 10, 11, and 12 are very different than the needs of kids K-8. And he did a great job of helping me develop a district program where what we're doing in elementary supported what we wanted for our kids when they graduated. So he provided great support for the school counseling program in that development of personal, social, academic and career development that kids need on that secondary level.
Speaker 1:No, I say that I wanted to bring. We did our first podcast with Clint, so if you haven't seen that, I go back to that. He goes into a lot of depth about this and that's to anybody listening. Second group of people, before I turn over to you all, is Larry and Debbie Blaha. Just a unique group of passion, but just a different almost. It was just so different. I didn't feel like there was any expectation for anything in return on there and they just enjoyed doing it.
Speaker 2:Let Larry and Debbie, or to the favorite people, I developed a lot of lifelong relationships. I want to talk about that Sometime, but before this podcast is over. But Larry was one of the first community members to come and meet with me on a regular basis. He was so passionate about the high school and it being successful and and he would drop by my little classroom office so it was just Darla and I were in Every now and then he would talk and then. But he also became a great sounding board for me because I was that first year, especially when we didn't have, when we were in the planning phases, and I didn't know the community and I didn't know the people, and there were times I probably didn't interact with some people the way that I should, and Larry was a great sounding board to help me get to know how to relate to some of the people. And he would come in and say, hey, you know this, this person's a really good guy. He said just give him a chance, you know and and talk.
Speaker 2:And that was a type of relationship I had with Larry and and you know, even once I left Jefferson, he and Debbie both kept in touch. I would come up and play in the golf tournament. It was always my favorite time to stop and see her and and spend time with Larry, and the impact that both of them have had on that school district as a whole and At the high school, especially from the booster club standpoint, is critical to the culture at high school, and God rest her soul. Debbie was a fine woman and and and Larry and. They're in my thoughts and prayers often, but they were again to the people that I Developed a relationship with that I will never forget, and what they did for that school and the school district and the passion they had or, again, second to none.
Speaker 3:I concur with everything he said, especially with the boosters and them helping us decorate for our first-ever dance. You know, kids didn't want the dance in the cafeteria and the kids didn't want Everyone who was sitting outside having snacks of the glass to see them in their dancing or whatever those 76 kids were doing in the gym during the dance and and so they helped us make Curtains. They made they that for years they did that and supported student leadership and Especially in those first years it was so critical to have their support For Chris and Wilkie and I to have their support for student leadership opportunities.
Speaker 1:So like back a laureate, the banners that we have, the county banners on the gym. Debbie had made those and it was, I think, mark. It was our second year together there when we were able to honor them through the Misha I Forget what that that awards called but that was a special time for me because I got to see those two together and they weren't around school stuff and they were just so relaxed and they got received a great honor and so a lot of wonderful memories there. If there's so many people I do know in general, like the board of education support over the years for some of the long meetings and everything it's it you can't have the success that the schools had. It's. It's never on just a group of people, it's never just. It has to go top to bottom and the board of education support Just from an outside and that's. I think.
Speaker 1:Another thing needs to be noted the three of us really had no Jefferson ties. You're probably as close. Being a de Soto, I had no idea Jefferson exists. I'm down at North County's an AD. My, I think it was this year when they were sophomores in the building and I was like who's North County? They wanted or, I'm sorry, who's Jefferson? They're one of the girls bad. Where's Jefferson? And I'm guessing just by your answer earlier You're kind of like where is Jefferson? And it's a great place. I'm telling you it's great place.
Speaker 2:That's correct that. I will say this we put Jefferson on the map. Nobody asked that question. Now I'll guarantee.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, but Anything with the board mark early on. I know you know you, you have a group of people and sometimes a little bit of change over, but I would say as a whole, all the way through there's been a lot of support for the kids from our board of education.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. You know there were differences of opinion with the board, but the one commonality that I saw with all the board members that I worked with at Jefferson was their focus truly was on what was best for kids and building those relationships and they wanted their. Their passion came from wanting their kids to have a Great high school experience, and we couldn't always always agree on what that was going to look like, but I always respected the fact that, even when I disagreed with the direction that the board wanted to go, that they were going in that direction for the right reason, that they were wanting to create a great experience, high school experience for all the students. And and again you know, as we sit here, as In 2023, after the school opened in 2009, I think the boards and all those people who served on the boards over the years can be proud the impact that they had, because they have Created a high school that is focused on kids and does best for kids.
Speaker 3:I remember going to a board meeting once and I don't know what I was presenting on, proposing something for academics, or I'm not sure exactly what it was, but I asked them to draw a tree. I asked the board members and they played along, which was very nice of them to do that, but they did. They drew a tree and no one put roots. They didn't draw roots, and that's what. When I think about what we were doing is we were. We were growing our roots so that your tree can blossom and be beautiful, and it that I really felt like that's what we were doing in the beginning is making strong roots so that, you know, everyone can go on from, from what we have built.
Speaker 2:But as a great analogy I remember that tree that they were drawing. Some of them were not very good drawlers.
Speaker 1:I would be in that club. I would be too First in line, actually Mark anything else that just kind of sticks out that you want to share.
Speaker 2:I mean, david, as you said earlier, I and I talk about Jefferson here all the time and I think about it and I could talk all day because every time we Suzanne mentioned something, you mentioned something something else pops into my head. So I know we can't go all day on this, but I think back About the staff and I look at where some of the staff Accredit to the culture of that school, as I look at how many people have left Jefferson and gone on to leader successful leadership positions elsewhere. I mean, suzanne's career has been remarkable since she left Jefferson. She was a remarkable counselor, but I think a lot of her growth was because of, and her leadership qualities were part of, the experience of being here at Jefferson and being part of that.
Speaker 2:Moving on, david, you came in and now you're the superintendent of the school district. Carl Schenegger, another member of the original staff, is a high school principal, uh uh, derek Skrogens, and his wife, amy Derek, who is the first football coach. They're both principals now in uh, in the western part of Missouri, and and I'm probably forgetting some but I mean how many schools could have a staff that all went out and did so, are so successful and took leadership positions elsewhere. I think that goes back to the culture and the hard work and the staff being together as a team Making all that happen in the beginning and and it was it was a remarkable time for me professionally and personally. I think there are so many relationships that I have now. David, you and I go back a long, long way.
Speaker 1:Yes, we did because.
Speaker 2:Today, as most people may not know, david's dad hired me for my first Coaching position and and I would not have got the teaching position it had not been for the coaching position and I I played ball with David in the yard when he was six or seven years old and I have such a man.
Speaker 1:Watch the a team every Tuesday. Team every Tuesday.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was a great memory. He's great memories, but I just, I just the lifelong relationships. Like Suzanne we, we still are in touch and text on a regular basis and and I go back through the whole list the staff and we communicate on facebook and stay in touch on their lives and the fact that they still want to include this old guy. I really appreciate that. But I made so many lifelong friendships. You know the True null, who was a long time board president and had three kids graduate From jefferson. You know to still have that relationship with several of the board members and people that I worked with. I just can't, I can't.
Speaker 2:It was such a I can't even put into words how much all of that means to me and and having been a part of all, so man, again, I could talk all about it. I mean, I think about the days of the team. I remember going to one community gathering and and one very vocal parent who had a, a kid that was good athlete, and and that parent was telling me how are you going to make this work? I don't see how our kids are not going to suffer, we're not going to get scholarships, all these things. And then during the senior year, that parent came up to me and says I don't know how you did it, but you did it. He said this has been the best experience ever and I think I think that was the feeling of a lot of people. They didn't know how it was going to go, but because we had a great team that worked together, it was better than expected.
Speaker 1:I would agree with that, Mr Richardson.
Speaker 3:I agree with everything that you said Lifelong friendships founded here at Jefferson High School, because we had to build something together and and no, no one person could do it by themselves and and you created such a great, unique environment that fostered leadership and students and in faculty staff, community members, and we're so glad you're here, david, to continue on that tradition and that you understand what, what, that those growing pains that we went through in the beginning and that, and and that you know empty building with just 76 kids and what it looks like now, and the pack, and how how much this place has grown and how it is a place that families migrate because they want to be here, just like I wanted to be here, and I let mr Rue arc know that I was going to be a school counselor.
Speaker 1:So yeah, and I would just say there's been two opportunities in my life to be on the ground floors and not be not be on the. You guys were on the initial ground floor, but you know to to Bennett, st Dominic, and be the second head coach after year one, and they were o and ten and to build that program. And you know now, you see, they played in a state championship game. To know the struggles at that time, the, the things that people can never remember. You know, I do remember that, I do think, I keep that in my mind the people that paid that price For our district to be where it's at today.
Speaker 1:And and again, it's not one person, there's so many, you can never name them and sometimes it's somebody that pops in for maybe a month or two and then they're gone. But they had a tremendous impact just because they brought some idea, um or did something. And then there's the people, like the blah house, who were just committed every day of their lives to it. You know there's it's such a wide variety of people, but we could do this all day. I we may have to pick up another segment at some point. Suzanne, I talked about that while we took a break there, mark so.
Speaker 2:I totally would be all in favor of that, david. Again, there are so many things and they I submitted my retirement papers to the board. I and this is another ruarchism my assistant principal laughed when you said that, suzanne, because she hears them all the time. But my dad told me once that Nobody wants to know the storms you encountered. They just want to know if you brought the ship in. And we had some storms. But I think we brought the ship in and brought it in very well and uh, it was, uh, it's a great experience and I would love to come back and maybe next time be there in person. I missed, I missed the my time at jefferson. I loved every minute of it.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you guys so much for joining us today. Um, it's been a real honor, um, and I hope that people who watch this know there's so many more layers to this story and, uh, we're gonna try to bring some of the graduates in and do one of these. Um, but I think there's some more potential here. This has been a great discussion this morning. We don't want to do the monster one today, though, so, uh, I think a little over an hour is probably enough.
Speaker 2:All right, that sounds good. Thanks again for having me, and I'd love to come back and talk some more and hopefully I'll get to see you both, uh, in the near future and thank you for keeping an education and all that you do for kids.
Speaker 1:Thank you.